To obtain a robust partition of the various internal electronic functions of an active RF (radiofrequency) system, screening of about 90 dBi at frequencies higher than 1 GHz is targeted. The most commonly employed solution, an example of which is shown in FIG. 1, consists in making this electrical interconnection using feedthrough filters. Each circuit board (or module) (an LF (low frequency) module 1 and an RF module 2 in this example) is secured in a cavity bounded by a metal partitioning structure. Feedthrough filters 30, also called feedthrough capacitors, are fitted, using adhesive bonding, into apertures provided in a partition 32 common to the two cavities 11 and 21. These feedthrough filters 30 are provided with RF seals. The connection pads 13, 23 of the circuit boards are connected to the feedthroughs 30 using wires 31 which are soldered at their two ends. Each feedthrough filter 30 ensures the electrical connection of one signal. Therefore, as many feedthrough filters as there are signals to be injected from one board into another are required. The capacitance and the RF seal of each feedthrough 30 ensure the EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) of the two cards. The element 3 is a supply connector which serves as an interface with the exterior and which therefore delivers LF signals generated outside of the system, which must transit the LF module 1 (in which they are processed) and finally supply the RF module 2 once processed.
These feedthrough filters therefore require manual bonding and wiring operations to produce the intermodule electrical connections. The RF screening requirement complicates the arrangement of the electronic modules and therefore the design of the mechanical structures housing them. Finally, without counting the increased cost of the structure, the unit cost of a feedthrough filter equipped with an RF seal is about 100, to which a 150 labour cost must be added.
The number of manual operations is furthermore multiplied by the number of signals to be injected (N feedthroughs are required to inject N signals), which is increasingly large. This is because there is a growing demand for systems fitted with high-added-value electronic modules which combine several functions on the same substrate.
Furthermore, it is impossible to inject signals rapidly due to filtering in the feedthroughs.